Process for manufacture of candy coated apples or the like



Patented June 26, 1951 215 34 RBQCESS roe MANUFACTURE OF CANDY Rimsearns LIKE N9 marria vThis invention relates to a new and improvedprocess for manufacture of caramel coated armies or the likeand has foritsgeneral object a prooess' resulting in candy coated apples suited ,for merchandising by general methods not previously applicable to thistype of product.

manufactured by previous methods, ithas usually been necessary tomerchandise this type "or confection by sales directly at the place ofmanufacture, such 'as pi'cnicgrounds or carnival "concessions or thelike, and within'a short period lo'f time, usually not longer thanone-'halfday, after the apples were dipped in thecoating material. Beingquicklyperishable and *sticky,f o;r instanceTthey could not besatisfactorily iercha'ndis'ed' in sanitary containers or otherwise,through candy stores or similar merchandising joutlets and'by methodsgenerally used with ordinaryjcbnfectionary'products; A more specificobjectof the invention isa process for producing relatively nonperishabie car'arneled apples suited for generalflmercha disii iiin'cellophane bags or similarsanitary .tainerswithoutsticking to thecontainerfeven after days or weeks of storage therein.

LStill another object" is a processfrom which 'aramel'ed apples emergewithout appr ie hgl'of thejnieat directly under the sk n of the fruitand withfa coating which sets up quick- 1y after dipping and does notflow, is not sticky,

does not become hard and brittle, adheresvery well to the apple anddoesnot'b'reak up and fall ,ofi, after part is bitten oif.

fIhe usual tendency for apples to cook appreciably from the heat of thedipping bath""is avoided herein by the preparation of a caramel coatingformula permitting the apples to be dipped at relatively lowtemperatures. A 16w temperature bathalso minimizes the waiting'p'eio'd'after dipping, before the coated applsmay be. packaged. l

w Mygmproved process, which is the result of a great many experiments,may be discussed fco'fr'iveniently byreference to'its three majorphases. Them P a eem i s th re ab r 2 n ,cofik ngpf the base formula. Inthe second phase, thebase formula isallowed to cool towarddiprin t mp ar n a nd ii e g q da fi added. 'The third phase includes the step 16fdipping. the fruit in the'coating bath maintained .atrelatively lowtemperature. i

In general, certain steps and ingredients in the m ep n process are moreorless critical and have a' definite 'p'earing on essential qualities ofQthe me t-a te i lbe w re? th t W1 pplication June 19,195

, ".No.1fi9,0,7 5" a 5 Claims. (01. 134) A preferred base formula isprepared by mixing together and heating while slowly stirring 'thefollowing named ingredients in the proportions 'by weight statedopposite each:

Commercial glucose or corn syrup Commercial cream 3 32 whole mi11 32Table salt 10 Brown sugar 128 Silgal" V...'..'.-'-. l Hard at (such asmargarine, or higher melting"frac'tion coconut oil 96 'F; melting point)32 Evaporated milk -l l 1 12 The hard fat is added and stirred in moreconveniently after the ingredients named-above it ing-the list have beenheated to such'atemperaturethat the fat melts quickly. 1 The evaporatedmilk is added when the mixture of the other named ingredients has beenheated to theboiling' point, which will occur inabout 12 minutes in'thecase of the above mixture'if. for example, the numbers indicating theparts :-by :weight of the different ingredients represent ounces and themixture is heated in'a kettle over an ordinarycandy furnace;lf--theevaporated milk is added before themixture reaches the boil ingpoint','it has a tendency to curdle."

After the resulting mixture reaches the boilingfpoint and the hardfatland evaporated milk have beenadded, it's temperature'is graduallyflavoring and coloring may b.eadded;'if*desired,

thereby completing the basic formula, which is :then' allowed tocoolpreparatory" to the second main phase in the overall process. ":iTheglucose is an'i'nexpensive sweetening agent which gives bodyto-thei'rnixtui'e and imparts a plastic quality to thermal coating. Itis an important-*base'ingredient in the formula. The amount of lucosemay be moderately varied without serious adverse effect.- ,Thecreainlandwhole mil "as ingredients of the .baseformulaiunction'aswettings and add richness'and creaininssltothe. final productl I-f'owr tey-are not critical tems:sor xa pe,

water may be used as a wetting, unless milk or cream are present in someappreciable degree, the amount depending on the desired richness of theproduct, the resulting product tends to be grainy or coarse, acharacteristic which is not overcome entirely by the presence of fondantadded later. On the other hand, an excess in the total proportion ofmilk and cream, such as above perhaps more by weight than the total of Vthe stated amounts, results in a coating which does not set up.

The proportion of table salt selected is not critical and will depend,of course, upon the flavor desired. In the event a salted hard fat isemployed in the base formula, less table salt would be added than inother cases.

While in the above base formula granulated sugar is employed in twoforms, brown and white in equal quantities, it will be understood thatall white sugar may be used, or all brown sugar. All white sugar wouldbe employed if the flavoring and coloring of brown sugar were notdesired, as when special artificial flavoring and coloring are to beadded to the mixture. Thus while granulated sugar in approximately thetotal quantity stated is an important or necessary part of the baseformula, a 10% variation up or down being tolerable, the type ofgranulated sugar is not critical. A deficiency in granulated sugarcontent of the formula cannot be made up by glucose in appreciablequantities without causing stickiness and stringiness in the finalcoating. Nor is powdered sugar satisfactory.

The hard fat a an ingredient in the base formula is an important itemand cannot be greatly decreased Without causing dryness and brittlenessin the final coating. If the proportion by weight of hard fat isdecreased by more than 10%, for example, that difficulty becomesserious. On the other hand, the proportion by weight of hard fat cannotbe excessively increased without causing a kind of oiliness in the finalcoating. When that occurs, the coating tends to slip off the appleinstead of adhering tenaciously to the skin of the fruit as desired.Here again if the increase is more than about 10%, this latterdifliculty becomes serious.

The hard fat used may be any of the edible stiff types which are used bycandy makers, for example, in the practice of their art. The importantfunction of the hard fat in the base formula and ultimately in the finalproduct is considered to be that of producing plastic softness enablingthe coating to be bitten through readily, but Without giving it a stickyor stringy property. Furthermore, together with the sugar and thefondant (added later), the hard fat causes the final coating to set uprapidly with the desired stiffness, and without flowing.

Conditioning by addition of fondant After the base formula prepared asdescribed above has cooled from its maximum temperature in the vicinityof 238 F. to a temperature preferably well below 200 F., a fondant isfolded or stirred thoroughly into the mixture. In the illustrative case,240 parts by weight of fondant are 4 employed. Preferably the fondantused is a heavy or icing fondant, being made up of the followingingredients, with the proportions by weight stated opposite each:

Sucrose 197 Commercial glucose or corn syrup 18 Invert sugar syrup(commercial Nulomoline, a product of the American Molasses Co. of NewYork) used in the fondant is prepared from sucrose and water boiled withan acid, which changes the sucrose into two simpler sugars.

The fondant or conditioner employed in the process is a very importantingredient and must be present in an amount not'appreciably less thanthe proportional amount stated. If the fondant is decreased by more thanabout 10% there is a definite tendency for the final coating to besticky.

- On the other hand, the fondant may be increased above the proportionalamount named by a somewhat larger percentage without detrimental effect.

While the fondant may be added before the temperature of the mixturecools down below 200 F., for example, it is preferable to wait until itreaches the range between about F. and 185 F. The reason for this isthat the fondant tends to break down partly into sucrose under prolongedheat, especially at high temperature,

' and if the temperature is high initially less time will be availableafter the fondant is added in which to dip the apples. At F., forexample, the fondant will remain in its desired'state for about 1 or 2hours. If the dipping operation is delayed for a period much longer thanthis more fondant must be added as a replacement and thoroughly stirredinto the mixture. However, there is a limit to the amount of replacementfondant which may be added to the mixture for this purpose, becauseultimately the quantity of sugar resulting from the breaking down of thefondant, when added to the original granulated sugar content of thmixture, becomes excessive and the product tends to become course andbrittle.

Dipping operation The base formula is constituted for a low temperaturedipping of the apples not only because of the effect of prolonged highertemperatures on breakdown of the fondant, but because of definite otheradvantages. By maintaining the tempera ture of the conditioned baseformula in the range between about 165 F. and F., for example, theapples can be dipped and removed at a convenient pace Without cookingthe meat of the apple under the skin. If the temperature of the mixtureis too high, the apple will be cooked and will spoil rapidly. Moreoverthe mixture will be too thin and tend to run off the apple before itsets. On the other hand, if the clipping temperature of the mixture istoo low, such as, below 160 F. the mixture, then not greatly above thetemperature at which it fairly sets, will be too stiff for satisfactorydipping of the apples.

The confectionary coatings produced by the illustrative process are ofan especially delectable quality, resembling caramel and yet also have acreamy fudge-like quality. The freshly coated apples may be sold andeaten immediately, or un der room drying conditions may be packaged, ifdesired, in a matter of several hours following the dipping operation,and are then ready for mechandising through ordinary trade channels orotherwise.

I claim as my invention:

1. The process of manufacturing candy coated apples and like products,comprising preparation of a base formula by stirring and cooking amixture comprising approximately equal units by weight of commercialglucose and granulated sugar, about one-third unit of hard fat, awetting, a dairy product enrichener and salt, heating such mixture to atemperature somewhat above boiling to insure removal of most water,allowing the mixture to cool to a substantially lower temperature, thenmixing in about one and one-half units of a heavy fondant, and finallydipping the apples in the cooled resultant mixture maintained at atemperature not greatly above that at which the same fairly sets.

2. The process defined in claim 1, wherein evaporated milk is the dairyproduct enrichener and is added to the mixture upon its reaching boilingtemperature.

3. The process defined in claim 2, wherein the fondant comprisesapproximately 197 parts by weight of sucrose, approximately 18 parts byweight of commercial glucose and approximately 25 parts by weight ofinvert sugar syrup, heated to crystallization and then stirred into acreamy, thick mass.

4. The process of manufacturing candy coated apples and like productscomprising the steps of preparing a base formula by mixing together andheating to boiling, proportionally by weight, parts of commercialglucose, 32 parts of commercial cream, 32 parts of whole milk,approximately 10 parts of table salt, 128 parts of brown sugar, 128parts of white sugar, and 32 parts of hard fat, adding 112 parts ofevaporated milk after the mixture reaches a boil, raising thetemperature of the resulting mixture to approximately 233 F., allowingthe mixture to cool to a temperature in the range between about F. andF., mixing in about 240 parts of a heavy fondant, and dipping the applesin the mixture while maintaining its temperature Within said range.

5. The process defined in claim 4, wherein the fondant comprises a heavyicing fondant prepared by heating to crystallization 197 parts ofsucrose, 18 parts of commercial glucose and 25 parts of invert sugarsyrup, and thereafter stirring or beating the mixture into a creamy,thick mass.

JOSEPH ALMER CANFIELD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

Everybodys Cookbook by Lord, Revised Edition, Harcourt, Brace andCompany, New York, page 397.

Candy Production: Methods and Formulas, Richmond, The ManufacturingConfectioner, Chi.. cago, Illinois, 1948, pages 329-334.

1. THE PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING CANDY COATED APPLES AND LIKE PRODUCTS,COMPRISING PREPARATION OF A BASE FORMULA BY STIRRING AND COOKING AMIXTURE COMPRISING APPROXIMATELY EQUAL UNITS BY WEIGHT OF COMMERCIALGLUCOSE AND GRANULATED SUGAR, ABOUT ONE-THIRD UNIT OF HARD FAT, AWETTING, A DIARY PRODUCT ENRICHENER AND SALT, HEATING SUCH MIXTURE TO ATEMPERATURE SOMEWHAT ABOVE BOILING TO INSURE REMOVAL OF MOST WATER,ALLOWING THE MIXTURE TO COOL TO A SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER TEMPERATURE, THENMIXING IN ABOUT ONE AND ONE-HALF UNITS OF A HEAVY FONDANT, AND FINALLYDIPPING THE APPLES IN THE COOLED RESULTANT MIXTURE MAINTAINED AT ATEMPERATURE NOT GREATLY ABOVE THAT AT WHICH THE SAME FAIRLY SETS.